LOS ANGELES
A brother and sister from Rosarito, Mexico, have been sentenced to federal prison for orchestrating a violent kidnapping and ransom plot that crossed into the United States, officials stated on Tuesday.
Mario Alex “Shyboy” Medina, 55, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $30,000 restitution. His sister, María Alejandra Medina, 52, a U.S. citizen living in Mexico, received eight years and the same restitution order.
A jury convicted both last October of conspiracy to commit hostage taking and conspiracy to demand ransom. Mario Medina was also found guilty of making a foreign extortion communication, according to officials.
Prosecutors said Medina directed accomplices to kidnap neighbor “R.V.” in Mexico in November 2022, beating him and demanding ransom from the victim’s family in Los Angeles.
The Medinas’ nephew, José “Gordo” Medina, 32, and María Medina collected $30,000 at a San Ysidro McDonald’s and smuggled the money back to Mexico.
Mexican authorities later rescued the victim from a trench where he had been left tied up. José Medina remains in Mexican custody on unrelated charges and faces separate prosecution in this case, officials stated.